Struggling to Survive with Regression Power in the Primordial Saint Sect

Time flowed like a spinning wheel, and in the blink of an eye, more than ten years had passed.

Within the realm of 【Departed Heaven】, Patriarch Ting You sat cross-legged, with the incense talisman of the 【Yanmo Heavenly Profound Nether Capturing Ghost Lord】 floating before him.

After a moment, Patriarch Ting You opened his eyes.

Instantly, three innate divine abilities ignited across his body, accompanied by his life-bound divine ability, forcefully breaking through the bottleneck.

Late Foundation Establishment Realm, Great True Person!

In the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment Realm, this step was considered a qualitative transformation. Therefore, the difficulty of recovery far exceeded previous stages, causing Patriarch Ting You to spend considerable time.

Nevertheless, he ultimately succeeded.

On the other side, Lü Yang watched with excitement. After all, although both were at the late Foundation Establishment Realm, the weight of Patriarch Ting You was on a different level compared to Long Yue.

”Congratulations, Patriarch.”

As soon as Patriarch Ting You completed his cultivation and opened his eyes, Lü Yang appeared before him, bowing respectfully.

Patriarch Ting You smiled wryly and shook his head. Although he had restored his physical body, he was still bound by the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner. Strictly speaking, as the banner master, Lü Yang had no need to be so courteous to him. Even if Lü Yang made excessive demands, he had no way to refuse.

Yet, Lü Yang’s attitude remained unchanged.

Undeniably, this feeling of being respected was quite gratifying for Patriarch Ting You. Moreover, Lü Yang had always prioritized the revival of the Witch Ghost Path.

What was this?

‘A pure heart of a child.’

Patriarch Ting You sighed, then personally helped Lü Yang up, saying, ”I have tested the incense talisman for you and have thoroughly understood its strengths and weaknesses.”

As expected of a patriarch!

”What are the pros and cons of this incense divine power?”

At this point, Lü Yang recalled much of his pre-transmigration knowledge and couldn’t help but ask, ”Could it be that this incense is poisonous, with significant hidden dangers upon use?”

”Not quite,” Patriarch Ting You shook his head. ”Or rather, it originally had such a tendency, but someone forcibly altered it.”

Upon hearing this, Lü Yang was momentarily stunned but quickly understood.

‘Indeed, since Hong Yun regarded this world as the final refuge, how could he allow something as obviously harmful as poisonous incense to evolve?’

”The advantages of incense divine power are straightforward,” Patriarch Ting You continued. ”First, it has a high baseline; even the weakest are at the level of great divine abilities in the Qi Refining stage. Second, it progresses rapidly; as long as there is sufficient incense, there are no bottlenecks or tribulations, allowing continuous advancement up to the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm!”

Just these two points were already astonishing.

However, Lü Yang remained composed. There was no such thing as a free lunch. The greater the advantages of the incense divine path, the more likely it had corresponding drawbacks.

”But...”

As expected, the next moment, Patriarch Ting You changed his tone: ”Most of its drawbacks I can resolve, but two are inherent issues.”

”First, the Dao foundation.”

Patriarch Ting You said solemnly, ”Although incense gods have status, they are not self-cultivated and lack a Dao foundation. Their status is elevated through incense.”

”Once the incense dissipates, the person falls.”

”At that time, the higher one stands, the harder the fall. The most tragic are the City Gods. Without incense, they almost immediately perish!”

This was somewhat similar to Foundation Establishment cultivators supporting True Lords.

However, the difference was that True Lords had their own caves. Even if all Foundation Establishment cultivators died, they would at most retreat into seclusion without any harm.

But incense gods were different. Once the populace below died en masse, and the incense vanished, it would immediately become a life-threatening issue!

‘Perhaps this is also why this world remains peaceful. If a major conflict were to erupt, with the City Gods at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, they could overturn the situation, causing the continent to sink and the divine path to be eradicated. With such a level of deterrence, the three factions can maintain peace.’

After understanding this, Lü Yang looked at Patriarch Ting You again: ”And the second?”

”Second, the incense itself.”

Patriarch Ting You shook his head, ”Incense is formed from human hearts, containing numerous distracting thoughts. Those with unstable minds are likely to go astray upon using it.”

”This issue becomes more problematic at higher realms.”

After speaking, Patriarch Ting You pointed to the incense talisman of the 【Yanmo Heavenly Profound Nether Capturing Ghost Lord】 before him: ”Currently, it is only at the late Foundation Establishment level.”

”It already puts some pressure on me.”

”Even if it reaches the pinnacle of this world, the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, I can still suppress it... but just because I can suppress it doesn’t mean others can.”

”If my predictions are correct, the reason why the great gods at the City God level in this world do not manifest is likely due to being burdened by incense, requiring seclusion to maintain themselves and avoid going astray. However, correspondingly, this is also a good opportunity to temper one’s divine will.”

After finishing, Patriarch Ting You looked at Lü Yang:

”Aren’t you cultivating sword intent?”

”Although I don’t understand swordsmanship, based on my deductions, as long as you use it in moderation, this incense divine power should be beneficial for honing your sword intent.”

Lü Yang was tempted.

But he quickly calmed down. Using incense divine power to temper sword intent wasn’t impossible, but it required a stable external environment.

However, that time was approaching.

Lü Yang’s eyes revealed a determined look.

After ten years of lying low and secretly spreading the faith, the White Lotus Sect had become merely an empty shell. Its internal essence had long been hollowed out and consumed by him.

His method of spreading the faith was simple: using one shell to incubate another.

Starting with the foundational base of the three White Lotus Divine Lords, he expanded outward, spreading word among believers, leading one White Lotus follower after another to voluntarily transform into banner spirits.

By now, a full ninety percent of the White Lotus Sect’s followers had been secretly converted into banner spirits by Lü Yang. As long as he didn’t change their faith, maintaining outward offerings and keeping the incense directed towards the White Lotus Sect, the incense gods of the White Lotus Sect would find it hard to detect anything amiss.

Thinking of this, Lü Yang calculated: ‘It’s about time.’

”Boom!”

Before long, a series of loud explosions echoed outside 【Departed Heaven】, as several massive hands formed from incense power reached out to grab him!

Looking out, Lü Yang saw countless figures standing outside 【Departed Heaven】, the weakest among them comparable to early Foundation Establishment County Gods. At this moment, their auras erupted, outlining a magnificent and radiant scene, sealing off the surrounding space.

【Vacuum Homeland】!

This time, the White Lotus Sect had mobilized entirely!

Leading them was none other than the Black Lotus Divine Venerable, whose incense divine power had almost become tangible. His aura was not much inferior to Long Yue’s.

However, Lü Yang remained unflustered.

‘Although I deliberately left clues, I didn’t expect the White Lotus Sect to take the bait... even though they’ve improved compared to ten years ago.’

At least they had learned to bully the few with the many.

But it seemed they hadn’t considered the possibility of a trap, or perhaps they believed that even if there was a trap, their strength was sufficient to crush it?

Unfortunately, their hopes were in vain, which suited him perfectly.

‘Now that my grand plan is complete, their so-called numerical advantage is merely a group effort to deliver themselves.’

Thinking of this, Lü Yang couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.

‘Calculating cause and effect, strategizing, manipulating the enemy—everything within expectations. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way!’

‘Ah.’

He seemed to understand the World Honored One a bit more now.

Blasting fish is truly delightful!

With this thought, the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner appeared in Lü Yang’s hand. In the next moment, the vast incense power that once belonged to the White Lotus Sect, sufficient to support a City God and a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, surged towards 【Departed Heaven】!